” Smugglers have taken to Facebook to offer desperate migrants passage across the Mediterranean to Europe in a sign of how brazen human traffickers have become in their lucrative trade.

A cursory search by the Financial Times revealed several Facebook pages in Arabic offering passage to Europe, many via Libya to Italy, but others from Turkey to Greece. No mention is made of the hundreds who have died in the Mediterranean in recent days; instead they promise a reliable and comfortable journey in a matter of hours.

On a closed Facebook group offering tips to would-be migrants, a Turkey-based Syrian who goes under the pseudonym of Abu Moaz advertises crossings by inflatable boat to Greece. The voyage lasts about an hour-and-a-half and costs $950 per person, he says. Anyone interested can speak to him via the WhatsApp or Viber numbers on the site.

Contacted by the FT, Abu Moaz said he was a sailor, but that work was scarce these days. The boat he uses, a Zodiac with fibreglass flooring, is owned by a group of Turks and Syrians, and leaves from the Turkish coastline somewhere between Bodrum and Izmir. “It is people smuggling, no more and no less,” he said, but insisted that — unlike other smugglers — he travels with the migrants on the boat to ensure they reach their destination.”

Written and performed by Remy. Music tracks and background vocals by Ben Karlstrom. Produced and edited by Meredith Bragg.

Approximately 2 minutes.

Visit http://reason.com/reasontv/2015/04/15… for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason TV’s YouTube channel to get automatic notifications when new material goes live. You can follow Reason on Twitter at @reason and follow Remy on Twitter at @goremy.

LYRICS:Make them pay four months of earnings (oh, that’s a good one)Have them look for lost receipts (ooh, I like it!)They’ll have about as much funas their last colonoscopyPeople everywhere will get ripped off…the paper version of the Apple Watch

And we’ll dance all night, it’s the best code everSome folks pay a lot, others they pay neverAnd you’ll get tax breaks if you’re really cleverIt’ll take so long, it’s the best code everThey’ll be like “oh, oh no”We’ll be like “yeah, yeah, yeah.”We’ll be like “awww.”

You may have heard that all your infoon our systems can be hacked with easeBut rest assured if they don’t get themthey’ll be in the care of folks like theseYes historians will all agreeamong the greatest works in history

And we’ll dance all night, it’s the best code everSome folks pay a lot, others they pay neverand if you don’t comply you’ll go to jail, howeverWhy would you not file? It’s the best code everThey’ll be like “Oh, oh no”We’ll be like “yeah, yeah, yeah” “

Above is a video of the demonstration for those that understand Portuguese and much more may be found here and here .

” Microphone in hand and standing atop the sound truck, the raspy-voiced protest leader jabbed his finger into the air shouting for the ouster of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, igniting wild cheers from the crowd below him.

” What Lula and Dilma have done shouldn’t just result in their being banned from politics. It should result in them being in jail!” Kim Kataguiri yelled, denouncing Rousseff and her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.”

” The March 15 demonstration was the largest Sao Paulo had seen in more than three decades, since 1984 protests demanding democratic elections after a long dictatorship.

But more surprising than the crowd of more than 200,000, according to the Datafolha polling and statistics agency, was the fact it was being led by Kataguiri, a skinny, 19-year-old college dropout, and other young Brazilian activists inspired by libertarianism and conservative free-market ideals.

The grandson of Japanese immigrants, Kataguiri is a social media star whose quirky videos skewer Rousseff and the ruling party’s social welfare policies. His ascent as a protest figure has been rapid. Two years ago, when protests erupted across Brazil over corruption and poor public services, Kataguiri was a high schooler who avoided the unrest.”

” Last night, I came across an incredibly important article from the New York Times, which described Facebook’s plan to provide direct access to other websites’ content in exchange for some sort of advertising partnership. The implications of this are so huge that at this point I have far more questions than answers.

With 1.4 billion users, the social media site has become a vital source of traffic for publishers looking to reach an increasingly fragmented audience glued to smartphones. In recent months, Facebook has been quietly holding talks with at least half a dozen media companies about hosting their content inside Facebook rather than making users tap a link to go to an external site.

Such a plan would represent a leap of faith for news organizations accustomed to keeping their readers within their own ecosystems, as well as accumulating valuable data on them. Facebook has been trying to allay their fears, according to several of the people briefed on the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were bound by nondisclosure agreements.

Facebook intends to begin testing the new format in the next several months, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.The initial partners are expected to be The New York Times, BuzzFeed and National Geographic, although others may be added since discussions are continuing. The Times and Facebook are moving closer to a firm deal, one person said.

Facebook has said publicly that it wants to make the experience of consuming content online more seamless. News articles on Facebook are currently linked to the publisher’s own website, and open in a web browser, typically taking about eight seconds to load. Facebook thinks that this is too much time, especially on a mobile device, and that when it comes to catching the roving eyeballs of readers, milliseconds matter.

The Huffington Post and the business and economics website Quartz were also approached. Both also declined to discuss their involvement.

Facebook declined to comment on its specific discussions with publishers. But the company noted that it had provided features to help publishers get better traction on Facebook, including tools unveiled in December that let them target their articles to specific groups of Facebook users, such as young women living in New York who like to travel.

The new proposal by Facebook carries another risk for publishers: the loss of valuable consumer data. When readers click on an article, an array of tracking tools allow the host site to collect valuable information on who they are, how often they visit and what else they have done on the web.

And if Facebook pushes beyond the experimental stage and makes content hosted on the site commonplace, those who do not participate in the program could lose substantial traffic — a factor that has played into the thinking of some publishers. Their articles might load more slowly than their competitors’, and over time readers might avoid those sites.

And just as Facebook has changed its news feed to automatically play videos hosted directly on the site, giving them an advantage compared with videos hosted on YouTube, it could change the feed to give priority to articles hosted directly on its site.

Let me try to address this the best I can from several different angles. First off, what’s the big picture plan here? As the number two ranked website in the world with 1.4 billion users, Facebook itself is already something like an alternative internet where a disturbing number of individuals spend a disproportionate amount of their time. The only thing that seems to make many of its users click away is content hosted on other people’s websites linked to from Facebook users. Other than this outside content, many FB users might never leave the site.

While this is scary to someone like me, to Facebook it is an abomination. The company doesn’t want people to leave their site ever — for any reason. Hence the aggressive push to carry outside news content, and create a better positioned alternative web centrally controlled by it. This is a huge power play move. “

” You might call it one of the most popular “spy cams” in the country today — the one offering an incredible live, bird’s-eye view of an eagle’s nest in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

And what happened at 8:24am Eastern time on Tuesday in that nest high up in a tree shows that the population of the bald eagle — America’s majestic national bird — has increased by one. A second egg in the nest is expected to hatch any time now.

Eager bird watchers logged on to the popular website featuring the live eagle cam joyfully celebrated the blessed and rarely seen event (my wife was among them, so I am personally familiar with this phenomenon that has enthralled so many people).

The amazing glimpse into the lives of this bald eagle family is, according to the a Pennsylvania government site, “supported by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, HDOnTap, Comcast Business, Friends of Codorus State Park and several other partners.” “

” A mysterious UFO has been captured by a high resolution drone as it moved through the air at an incredible speed.

The flying object, which seen over the Silicon Valley in California, has left the public baffled after it was caught on camera by the DJI Inspire 1 in one of the few 4K video clips to be uploaded online and feature a UFO.

But even this ultra HD resolution drone camera couldn’t capture clear still images of the mysterious object – it was simply moving too fast. “

” Facebook is providing the public with more information about what material is banned on the social network.

Its revamped community standards now include a separate section on “dangerous organisations” and give more details about what types of nudity it allows to be posted.

The US firm said it hoped the new guidelines would provide “clarity”. One of its safety advisers praised the move but said that it was “frustrating” other steps had not been taken.

Facebook says about 1.4 billion people use its service at least once a month. The new guide will replace the old one on the firm’s website, and will be sent to users who complain about others’ posts.

Monika Bicket, Facebook’s global head of content policy, said the rewrite was intended to address confusion about why some takedown requests were rejected.

The new version of the guidelines runs to nearly 2,500 words, nearly three times as long as before. The section on nudity, in particular, is much more detailed than the vague talk of “limitations” that featured previously.

Facebook now states that images “focusing in on fully exposed buttocks” are banned, as are “images of female breasts if they include the nipple”.

Other sections with new details include:

Bullying – images altered to “degrade” an individual and videos of physical bullying posted to shame the victim are now expressly forbidden

Hate speech – while the site maintains the same list of banned topics, it now adds that people are allowed to share examples of others’ hate speech in order to raise awareness of the issue, but they must “clearly indicate” that this is their purpose

Criminal activity – the network now states that users are prohibited from celebrating any crimes they have committed, but adds that they are allowed to propose that an illegal activity should be legalised

Self-injury – the site says that it will remove content that identifies victims and targets them for attack, even if done humorously. But it says that it does not consider “body modification” to be a type of self-injury “

You can’t show buttocks or boobs but beheadings are still okay ? WTF ?

” While Facebook’s new guidelines state that users should “warn their audience about what they are about to see if it includes graphic violence”, it provides no way for members to add cover pages to clips to prevent them from auto-playing. “

” If you fly a drone and post footage on YouTube, you could end up with a letter from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Earlier this week, the agency sent a legal notice to Jayson Hanes, a Tampa-based drone hobbyist who has been posting drone-shot videos online for roughly the last year.

The FAA said that, because there are ads on YouTube, Hanes’s flights constituted a commercial use of the technology subject to stricter regulations and enforcement action from the agency. It said that if he did not stop flying “commercially,” he could be subject to fines or sanctions.

” This office has received a complaint regarding your use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (aka drone) for commercial purposes referencing your video on the website youtube.com as evidence,” the letter reads. “After a review of your website, it does appear that the complaint is valid.” “

The hobby use of drones and other model aircraft has never been regulated by the FAA, but the agency has been adamant about making a distinction between hobby and commercial use, which has led to much confusion over the last couple years.

Where, exactly, does commercial use begin and hobby use end, for instance? If you fly for fun, but happen to sell your footage later, were you flying for a “commercial purpose?” What if you give it to a news organization that runs it on a television station that has ads on it? What if you upload it to YouTube and Google happens to put an ad on it? What if you decide to put an ad on it?

The letter makes clear that at least some in the FAA (this one was sent by Michael Singleton, an aviation safety inspector in the FAA’s Tampa office) take a very wide view of what is “commercial.” “

” Drones have a bad reputation, and even though many of us call our Multi-rotors by different names, the public does associate our fantastic machines with the word drone. We are here to make sure that Drones are seen in a positive light. International Drone Day is held every year on the second Saturday in the Month of March. This year is will be held on March 14, 2015

” The purpose of International Drone Day is to show the world that drones are good, and can be used for many good purposes. Movie making, search and rescue, police work, architecture, inspections, emergency response, and for just having fun.

Groups of drone enthusiast get together into organized groups all across the world to fly their drones, and invite friends, neighbors, and the media to showcase drones in a good way

The goal is to get as many Newspapers, blogs, TV News, Magazines, and groups to see drones being used for good.

We have groups that meet up all across the world, simply find a group in your area and sign up (its all free). Or if there is not a group, you can form a group or you can go out on your own and fly this day. Click here to become a captain or form your own group in your area

A documentary film is being made on this historic event. So its a great time to be interviewed, and showcase your work or your companies work in a big media day, its time to be apart of something big Join here

How do I show my participation in International Drone Day?

You simply take a picture or video on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram with the tag #InterntationalDroneDayAnd you let the local news, radio, tv stations, blogs, meet up groups, etc know what this day is about.

Even if you can not fly this day, you can still help by spreading the word about drones, use the hash tag #InternationalDroneDay #dronesforgood .”

” Cell phone video shows a 15-year-old girl being beaten to the ground by 4 other teens inside a Brooklyn McDonald’s as dozens watched and cheered.

The savage fight broke out inside a McDonald’s on Flatbush Avenue near Erasmus Hall High School Monday afternoon. The girl in blue swings at one of the teens but is soon outnumbered by her target’s friends. The 4 relentlessly pummel the girl, who continues trying to throw punches.”

Our touchy-feeling , oh so sensitive society is raising a generation of thugs and savages .

” The latest spot for Audi of America by Venables Bell is something close to pure genius, poking fun at the idea of aerial drones delivering Amazon packages as a contrast to Audi’s superior engineering technology. Film buffs will especially appreciate the witty sustained homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds, from dialogue and camerawork to a musical pastiche of longtime Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann. More ad industry coverage at http://www.adbrands.net“

While we admire the cleverness of this advert , as drone pilots we are also somewhat alarmed at the unnecessary fear that this video will undoubtedly sow among a portion of the unknowing public and thus bring increased scrutiny and regulation from the politicians and busybodies of the world . That being said , the ad , on it’s face is extremely well done and a bit of creative genius .

” You’re going out with friends mid-week, and you don’t want the boss/significant other/parole officer to find out. But it’s a birthday celebration, and Facebook’s auto-tagging the pictures your buddies upload like a dirty snitch. The first piece of advice: never “friend” your parole officer. The second? Maybe grab a pair of these “privacy” glasses from software security firm AVG. You, of course, can see my visage above, but AVG claims the technology in the specs means facial recognition software (like that of Facebook) will not.

” Edward Snowden says the only thing he regrets about his revelations regarding NSA surveillance is that he didn’t do it sooner. The former NSA analyst took part in a question-and-answer session on Reddit along with filmmaker Laura Poitras and and journalist Glenn Greenwald Monday.

The trio appeared on the site to celebrate the Academy Award that “Citizenfour,” a documentary that depicts some of the earliest interviews between journalists and Snowden, received. The NSA leaker was temporarily banned from the popular submission site during the community Q&A, also known as an “ask me anything” or AMA.

” Hey guys, sorry — the reddit mods are being a little weird. My account is /u/SuddenlySnowden,” Snowden said. “Mods: Can you pull back the ban? I can’t post from the primary account. Thanks.”

Snowden’s account was restored nine minutes later, but not before a Reddit moderator confronted him for complaining about the ban. The Reddit volunteer then got into a spat with Greenwald, later inferring the journalist was intellectually disabled.”

We doubt Aaron would approve , but then a lot of the Reddit moderators are as*holes . Read more

” Fresno police are at the forefront of a new technology designed to figure out how much danger officers may be getting into as they respond to 911 calls. But the product is drawing comparisons to Big Brother because of the massive amount of personal information it collects.

At least two cops might be alive today if they had access to the software we got to see. But once it’s put to use by police, you have to watch what you say or risk being labeled a threat.

Before the assassination of two New York police officers in December, an obvious warning was there for anyone to read. But the message in the killer’s public Instagram post never reached officers Liu and Ramos. Two months later, every call to Fresno police dispatchers could give similar warnings the chance to reach officers through new software known as Beware.

” To the extent that there is information that is in the public domain, regardless of where the input was derived, it could potentially be surfaced through a Beware query,” said Allen Carr, vice president of Intrado, the company producing and marketing Beware to first responders of all types.

Intrado buys billions of pieces of commercially available personal information — the same stuff credit agencies have. It adds arrest records from police databases and within seconds, gives a quick look at who lives at any address and a profile for every person associated with the address.”

” Sunday night brings the 87th Academy Awards, but the social media conversation about the nominated films, actors and actresses has been going on for weeks. The maps below show which movies and people are winning the Facebook Oscar “conversation” from Jan. 1 to Feb. 16.

If Facebook chatter determined which film wins the Oscar for Best Picture on Sunday, “American Sniper” would grab the statue – and it wouldn’t be close. The film about the life and war experiences of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle has dominated conversation about the Oscar nominees on the social media platform across the country.

“ American Sniper” talk made up 80% or more of the Facebook discussion about the Best Picture nominees in 9 of every 10 counties. And, of course, the film scored big at the box office.

But click through the maps above and you’ll notice some differences in the patterns for other films that reveal how audiences can vary, depending factors such as racial composition and education level.”

Of course we all know that the “progressives” in LaLa land would never choose a movie that portrays the American soldier in an honorable light but read more and use the interactive maps for all the nominees at the Wall Street Journal

” One month after the terrorist attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris, NRG’s correspondent, wearing a tzitzit and a kippa, took what proved to be an intimidating walk across the French capital. “What is he doing here Mommy? Doesn’t he know he will be killed?” one little boy asked, saying it all .

” Go f*** from the front and the back,” “Viva Palestine,” “Hey you, with the kippa, what are you doing here?” these were only a few of the remarks sent my way as I was walking through the streets of Paris wearing a tzitzit and a kippa.

Welcome to Paris 2015, where soldiers are walking every street that houses a Jewish institution, and where keffiyeh-wearing men and veiled women speak Arabic on every street corner. Walking down one Parisian suburb, I was asked what I doing there. In modern-day Paris, you see, Jews are barred from entering certain areas.

For 10 hours I quietly walked down the streets and suburbs of Paris, with photographer Dov Belhassen documenting the day using a GoPro camera hidden in his backpack. Given the tensions in Paris, which is still reeling from a wave of terrorist attacks (including the murder of Charlie Hebdo magazine journalists), I was assigned a bodyguard.

Areas known as tourist attractions were relatively calm, but the further from them we walked, the more anxious I became over the hateful stares, the belligerent remarks, and the hostile body language.”